SONOMA COUNTY / Sex Offender To Be Kept in State Hospital

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, September 9, 1998

Santa Rosa -- Convicted sex offender Charlotte Mae Thrailkill agreed yesterday to remain in a mental hospital until doctors decide that she is no longer be a threat to society.

The 39-year-old woman opted for commitment to Patten State Hospital, a maximum security mental lockup in San Bernardino, rather than go through a Sonoma County trial, deputy District Attorney Robert LaForge said.

LaForge asked the court in July to commit Thrailkill under a 1995 state law that allows sex offenders to remain hospitalized after serving their prison sentences.

Thrailkill was sentenced to 14 years in state prison in 1988 after she pleaded no contest to lewd and lascivious acts with five children, including two 5-year-old boys, a 6- year-old boy, an 8-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl.

She was released from prison in March but was arrested three weeks later for violating parole.

Thrailkill was the first California woman declared a sexually violent predator. She will be re-evaluated by Mental Health Department physicians every two years until they decide whether she has been rehabilitated. She could remain committed for life.